Through the analysis of factors affecting the health care of children in Vietnam, the article shows that children in households with a low standard of living, ethnic minority children, children in rural areas more severely disadvantaged in health care compared with other groups of children. This partly reflects differences in geography, socio-economic structure, health care systems and behavioral attitudes toward health care for children. The study also emphasizes the role of the family, especially the important role of the mother during pregnancy, birth, nurture and care for children until to adulthood.